1992 United States Senate election in New York
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County results D'Amato:40–50%50–60%60–70% Abrams:40–50%50–60%60–70%70–80% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections in New York State |
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The1992 United States Senate election in New Yorktook place on November 3, 1992, alongside other elections to theUnited States Senatein other states, as well as elections to theUnited States House of Representativesand various state and local elections. Incumbent SenatorAl D'Amatonarrowly won re-election to a third term. As of 2024, this is the last time Republicans won a U.S. Senate election in New York, & the last time that the winning presidential and U.S. Senate candidates in New York were of different political parties.
Republican primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]Declared
[edit]- Al D'Amato,incumbent Senator
Withdrew
[edit]- Laurance Rockefeller Jr.,environmental attorney and nephew of former New York Governor and Vice PresidentNelson Rockefeller(failed to submit signatures)[1]
Results
[edit]Senator D'Amato was unopposed for re-nomination.
Democratic primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]Declared
[edit]- Robert Abrams,New York Attorney General
- Geraldine Ferraro,former U.S. Representative, and Democratic nominee for vice president in1984
- Elizabeth Holtzman,New York City Comptroller,and nominee for the U.S. Senate in1980
- Al Sharpton,Baptist minister and civil rights activist
Withdrew
[edit]- Robert Mrazek,U.S. Representative from Suffolk County
Declined
[edit]- Mark Green,New York City Commissioner of Consumer Affairs; Democratic nominee for Senate in1986[2]
Campaign
[edit]The Democratic primary campaign featured State Attorney General Robert Abrams, former U.S. Congresswoman and 1984 vice presidential candidateGeraldine Ferraro,ReverendAl Sharpton,and New York City Comptroller and former CongresswomanElizabeth Holtzman.CongressmanRobert J. Mrazekwas also an early candidate, but withdrew from the race after being named in theHouse banking scandal.[3]Abrams was considered the initial front-runner.[4]
Ferraro emphasized her career as a teacher, prosecutor, congresswoman, and mother, and positioned herself as being tough on crime.[5]She soon took the lead in the polls, additionally capitalizing on her name recognition from 1984.[6]However, she drew attacks from the media and her opponents over her husbandJohn Zaccaro's finances and business relationships.[6]Initially, Ferraro used the attacks in an attempt to galvanize the feminist vote, but her lead began to dwindle under the criticism, and she released additional tax returns in an attempt to defray the attacks.[7][8][9]Holtzman ran a negative ad accusing Ferraro and Zaccaro of taking more than $300,000 in rent in the 1980s from a pornographer with purported ties to organized crime.[10]
Results
[edit]In the primary, Abrams won by less than one percentage point, winning 37 percent of the vote to Ferraro's 36 percent.[8]Ferraro did not concede the election for two weeks.[11]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Robert Abrams | 426,904 | 37.02% | |
Democratic | Geraldine Ferraro | 415,650 | 36.04% | |
Democratic | Al Sharpton | 166,665 | 14.45% | |
Democratic | Elizabeth Holtzman | 144,026 | 12.49% | |
Total votes | 1,153,245 | 100.00% |
General election
[edit]Campaign
[edit]After Abrams emerged as the nominee, the Democrats remained divided. In particular, Abrams spent much of the remainder of the campaign trying to get Ferraro's endorsement.[13]Ferraro, enraged and bitter after the nature of the primary,[7][11]ignored Abrams, and acceptedBill Clinton's request to campaign forhis presidential bidinstead. She was eventually persuaded by state party leaders into giving an unenthusiastic endorsement, with just three days to go before the general election, in exchange for an apology by Abrams for the tone of the primary.[13]
Abrams was also accused of engaging inethnically charged attacksagainst theItalian ancestryof both Ferraro and D'Amato. Ahead of the primary, Ferraro sought to defend herself against accusations that she received financial support from organized crime in her 1978 congressional campaign, claiming that, "If I were not Italian American, this whole thing would never have been brought up."[14]In October, Abrams was again accused of anti-Italian political attacks, after calling D'Amato a "fascist"at a campaign event and alleging that he had engaged in the"big lietechniques "of Nazi propaganda officers.[15]At aColumbus Dayparade the following day, D'Amato accused Abrams of engaging in ethnic insults on his Italian ancestry, and in a subsequent campaign ad featured images of Italian fascist leaderBenito Mussolinito depict the word "fascist" as an anti-Italian slur.[16]Abrams narrowly lost the general election, partially as a result of these controversies.[17]
Polling
[edit]This article'suse ofexternal linksmay not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines.(August 2016) |
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Alfonse D'Amato (R) |
Robert Abrams (D) |
Other/Neither | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Buffalo News/Political-Media Research Inc.[18] | October 30, 1992 | 833 | ± 3.5% | 42% | 44% | - | 14% |
Results
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Al D'Amato(incumbent) | 2,652,822 | 41.07% | |
Conservative | Al D'Amato(incumbent) | 289,258 | 4.48% | |
Right to Life | Al D'Amato(incumbent) | 224,914 | 3.48% | |
Total | Al D'Amato (incumbent) | 3,166,994 | 49.03% | |
Democratic | Robert Abrams | 2,943,001 | 45.57% | |
Liberal | Robert Abrams | 143,199 | 2.22% | |
Total | Robert Abrams | 3,086,200 | 47.78% | |
Libertarian | Norma Segal | 108,530 | 1.68% | |
New Alliance | Mohammad T. Mehdi | 56,631 | 0.88% | |
Natural Law | Stanley Nelson | 23,747 | 0.37% | |
Socialist Workers | Eddie Warren | 16,724 | 0.26% | |
Republicanhold |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Purdum, Todd S. (July 12, 1992)."JULY 5-11: Rockefeller vs. D'Amato; A Powerful Political Name Reappears in New York".The New York Times.
- ^Schwartz, Maralee; Kurtz, Howard (June 9, 1991)."D'AMATO FOE GREEN RULES OUT REMATCH IN NEW YORK IN '92".Washington Post.
- ^Pear, Robert (March 20, 1992)."Mrazek Is Said to Be Ready to Quit Senate Race".The New York Times.RetrievedJune 24,2018.
- ^Kolbert, Elizabeth (October 21, 1991)."In Senate Campaign, Ferraro Picks Up Where She Left Off".The New York Times.
- ^Braden, Maria (1996).Women Politicians and the Media.Le xing ton, Kentucky:The University Press of Kentucky.p. 135.ISBN0-8131-1970-7.
- ^abMitchell, Alison (September 1, 1992)."For Ferraro, Cheers of '84 Are Still Resonating".The New York Times.
- ^abLurie, Leonard (1994).Senator Pothole: The Unauthorized Biography of Al D'Amato.Birch Lane Press.pp.465, 467.ISBN1-55972-227-4.
- ^abPurdum, Todd S.(September 16, 1992)."Abrams, In Tight Senate Vote, Appears to Edge Out Ferraro".The New York Times.
- ^Blumenthal, Ralph (September 11, 1992)."Ferraro Releases Tax Returns for 2 Missing Years to Offset Attacks by Rivals".The New York Times.
- ^Mitchell, Alison (August 27, 1992)."Holtzman Draws Criticism From Feminists Over Ads".The New York Times.
- ^abVerhovek, Sam Howe (October 1, 1992)."Abrams Gets A Concession From Ferraro".The New York Times.
- ^"NY US Senate D Primary Race - September 15, 1992".Our Campaigns.RetrievedJune 24,2018.
- ^abManegold, Catherine S. (November 1, 1992)."Ferraro Gets An Apology From Abrams".The New York Times.
- ^Treadwell, David (September 15, 1992). "'92 POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE: A Family Feud Comes to a Close - at Ballot Box: N.Y. Senate primary today ends Democratic fight over Ferraro. But GOP could benefit ".Los Angeles Times.
- ^Mouat, Lucia (October 22, 1992)."D'Amato, Abrams Splatter Road To US Senate With Lots of Mud".Christian Science Monitor.RetrievedAugust 18,2018.
- ^Stanley, Alessandra (November 5, 1992)."THE 1992 ELECTIONS: NEW YORK STATE - U.S. SENATE RACE; D'Amato: Combining Money, Attacks, and Foe's Blunders".New York Times.RetrievedAugust 18,2018.
- ^Attorney General Abrams to Quit To Join a Law Firm in Manhattan.New York Times. September 9, 1993.
- ^Buffalo News/Political-Media Research Inc.
- ^"Our Campaigns - NY US Senate Race - Nov 03, 1992".
- ^Clerk of the House of Representatives(1993)."Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional election of November 3, 1992"(PDF).U.S. Government Printing Office.
Further reading
[edit]- Navasky, Victor (January–February 1993)."Degrees of Sleaze".Columbia Journalism Review.